Now, write your top 10 favorite places to eat in the world. Tell the students about each place and why you like it so much (Description). After you talk about each place, ask the students three or four questions to check that they have understood you (Comprehension Questions). Finally, have them ask you a few questions about the place (Your Questions).

Note key phrases and vocabulary that might be helpful to your students in the Speaking section.

(You don’t need to tell about each place. Just do it for 10 minutes or so.)

Now, ask the students to make their own lists of their top 10 favorite places to eat in the world.

Speaking (35 minutes)

In groups of three, have the students repeat the process. One student should tell about a place they enjoy eating, ask comprehension questions, and answer a few questions from the group. Then, another person in the group should take a turn.

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Go around the class and ask each student to present one of their places to the class.

Extension

Have the students create their perfect place to eat. They should combine the best qualities from their ten places to design the best possible one place to eat. Then, they can describe their places to a partner.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Send the students to a website like www.zagat.com to read restaurant reviews. For the next class, they share information about a restaurant they found. Or send them to www.listverse.com where they can check out lists on tons of topics.

Modification for Lower Levels: During the Pre-Speaking, you’ll need to give them a bit more structure to work with. On the board, write “It is good because it is + adjective” Have students write three adjectives for each restaurant. This is a good activity for students to use their dictionaries. They’ll choose their own words and practice them in English.

Modification for Higher Levels: It should be OK, but if you’d like to challenge them, write these words/expressions on the board:

Modification for Small Groups: If possible, stretch Pre-Speaking because you won’t be able to do the Post-Speaking. Otherwise, you could add another category such as Top 10 Foods and do them quickly at the end. Or you could just do the extension.

Modification for Private Lesson: Rather than presenting all ten of your places right away, just present one and then have your student make their list. Then, trade places back and forth. Teach them how to ask good comprehension questions along the way. Keep an eye on your watch at the beginning. If you’re sharing 20 places between the two of you, you’re aiming for about three minutes a place.

Modification for Different Themes: Simply make Top 10 lists for a different topic. Top 10 places you’ve traveled. Top 10 Items of Clothing. Top 10 family members. Anything will work.

This is another one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here. Enjoy.

Name: How much do you want for that?

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Materials:

One picture of an exciting product for each student (e.g. a watch, a television, a boat, a pair of shoes, a diamond, etc. They can be anything. You can rip them out of a magazine or print them off the internet.)

On the back of each picture, you should write a price. It doesn’t matter if it’s accurate.

Primary Objective: Practice descriptive skills.

Other Benefits: Practice larger numbers.

Plan:

Pre-Speaking (5 minutes)

First, review with the class how to say numbers up to a million.

Pre-Speaking (15 minutes)

On the board, write: “How much do you think this is?” and “I think it costs…”

Hold up the first picture and ask a student: “How much do you think this is?” Say “higher” or “lower” (depending on their guess). Then, the next student should guess. When a student guesses the price, give them the object.

Repeat with the next object, but don’t ask the student who already guessed the price of an object.

Repeat until all of the students have objects.

Speaking (30 minutes)

Have the students stand in front of the classroom in a row. The student with the most expensive object should stand all the way on the left. The student with the least expensive object should stand all the way on the right.

Tell the students that they need to trade their object with someone. They should mingle and try to convince someone to trade objects with them.

Then, they should line up again. When they’re lined up, go down the line. Each student should say how much each object cost and why they traded.

Now, they should do it again—trade objects, line up again and explain why.

Have them do it a third time before they return to their seats.

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Have the students pair up. Give each pair two pictures and have them discuss these questions about the pictures (write them on the board):

Would you ever buy this?

How much would you really pay for it?

Would you ever give this as a gift? Who would you give it to?

When they finish discussing those questions, they should pass the pictures to the next group.

Extension

Have the students create a short commercial for their object. They should use at least five adjectives to describe the product and mention the price.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Each student should research how much the objects really cost.

Modification for Lower Levels: Before you start the Speaking portion, write these expressions on the board and review what they mean.

Can I trade you my ____ for your _____?

Why should I trade?

You should trade because this is…

OK. I’ll trade.

I don’t think so, sorry.

Modification for Higher Levels: As the students say what they traded for and why, ask them detailed follow-up questions.

Modification for Small Groups: Rather than doing this once with a large number of objects, do it several times with a small number of objects each time.

Modification for Private Lesson: The student will have to guess the prices of each object on their own. After they’ve guessed your made-up prices, have the student order the objects by what is most valuable to them and explain why each step of the way.

Modification for Different Themes: Pick products on a different theme. For travel, you might just pick vacation destinations. For technology, you might find a technology magazine to rip pictures out of. For animals, you might ask how much you would pay to have each animal as a pet.

In the first square, draw stick figures of a boy and a girl meeting. Ask the students to describe what is happening.

Now, have a student come to the board and draw what happens next in the next square. Again have the students describe what is happening.

Repeat the process until all nine squares are filled.

As appropriate, write key dating vocabulary and expressions on another part of the board. For example, you might end up writing words such as: boyfriend, girlfriend, going dutch, to dump, to cheat, to get married, etc. It depends on the story.

Now, pass out a piece of paper to each student. Tell them they should create a box with nine squares and a place to write important vocabulary and expressions.

Speaking (30 minutes)

Have each student draw a picture in their first square. They should then show it to a partner. The partner should describe what’s happening. They should write any key vocabulary and expressions.

Then, they should pass their paper to their left. That person should draw the next frame and show it to their partner again. The partner should, again, describe what’s happening. They should, again, write any key vocabulary and expressions on the page.

Pass the papers around until all nine squares are filled in.

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Have the students come to the front and present whole stories to the class.

Extension

Give the students new sheets of paper. Repeat the process, but this time, instead of doing things chronologically, have the students fill in random squares.

Extension #2

Have the students discuss these questions:

Is it important for your boyfriend/girlfriend to have a lot of money?

Is it important for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be sexy?

Is it important for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be funny?

Is it important for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be smart?

What is the most important thing for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be?

Where is the best place to go on a date? Why?

What is the best age to get married? Why?

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Have the students visit www.comics.com They should search until they find a comic about dating, print it, and bring it to the next class.

Modification for Lower Levels: At the beginning, ask the students for things that can happen when dating. On the board, write: You meet. You go to a restaurant. You see a movie. Ask them for more suggestions. Then have each student write ten more things on their own. Then, ask for more suggestions and write them on the board. They can use these when deciding what to draw and how to describe it.

Modification for Higher Levels: Bring in some dating comics at the beginning. You can find them by browsing www.comics.com. Discuss their meanings and why they’re funny.

Modification for Small Groups: The post-speaking won’t really work because everyone will have seen everything. Just be ready to do the extensions.

Modification for Private Lesson: Before the class, make a complete comic on your own as an example. With your student, create two comics, trading squares back and forth.

Modification for Different Themes: Just make sure you can tell a story around your theme. It’s easier to do this if the students can draw easy things (like stick figures). Themes like dating work best. But, travel could also work well. Anything is possible, but something like nature might be tricky.

Have the students write ten things people often do in a kitchen. Write a few examples on the board before they start (e.g. make eggs, eat pasta, etc.). Tell the students they should be specific. “Cook” is not a good activity. “Cook chicken” is OK. Walk around and monitor them while they write activities.

Now, place all of the kitchen objects where everyone can see them. Also, put a stack of white paper with the objects.

Choose a kitchen activity that you will demonstrate. Pick out the objects that you need to demonstrate the activity and demonstrate it. If the students can’t guess what you’re doing, draw a picture of any missing objects. (For example, if they can’t tell you’re making eggs, draw some eggs.)

Then, ask the students to name the objects that you used. Write the names of the objects on the board.

Do it again. Then, have a few students do it using one of their activities.

Write the names of any unused items on the board.

Speaking #1 (15 minutes)

Distribute the kitchen items to the students. With whatever object(s) they have, they should answer these questions:

Which activities on your list can you do with this object?

What other objects do you need to do this activity?

Model it for them before they start. After they finish with one object, they should pass it to another student. They should repeat the process with all of the kitchen objects.

Speaking #2 (15 minutes)

While the students are passing the objects around, write these questions on the board:

What are the most important things in a kitchen?

What does every kitchen need?

Do you have any unique/strange items in your kitchen?

What is the most interesting thing in your kitchen?

How often do you cook?

Do you like cooking?

Who is the best cook that you know?

How often do you eat dinner with your friends/family?

How often do you eat alone?

Is it a good idea to eat with other people often? Why/Why not?

Is your kitchen clean?

They should discuss these questions in pairs or small groups.

Post-Speaking (10minutes)

Hold up each object and ask the class for several activities that you can do with each object.

Hide the objects from the students’ view. (For example, put them under boxes or outside the door or just have everyone close their eyes.)

Now, reveal one object to one student (but not to everyone else). The student should describe the object until the class guesses what it is.

For a super long extension (if you’re in a country where English is the main language), you could take a field trip to a restaurant and visit the kitchen.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Prepare a dinner at your home and take pictures of each step. (They can use the cameras on their phones.) At the beginning of the next class, show the pictures in groups and guess what was going on.

Modification for Lower Levels: Reduce the number of objects and only choose the most essential kitchen items. (So, skip the whisk and stick to forks, etc.).

During Speaking #1, change the questions to: What is this object? What do you need this object for? Write sample answers on the board.

During Speaking #2, write sample answers next to the questions.

Modification for Higher Levels: It should still be OK. Make sure to include some lesser know objects (e.g. spatula, spice rack, etc.). You might have the students suggest some more questions for Speaking #2.

Modification for Small Groups: It should be OK. For Speaking #1, you can distribute the objects evenly and then ask the students to ask follow-up questions. It might go a little quicker, so be ready to do the extension.

Modification for Private Lesson: Instead of passing the objects around, you might just trade objects back and forth with your student. You could also go to a restaurant. When your food arrives, make sure to discuss what was needed to make it.

Modification for Different Themes: Just pick objects related to a different theme and change the questions to suit the theme. For instance, if it was clothing unit, you could bring in clothing items. If it was travel unit, you could bring in pictures of different places. For a nature unit, you could bring in plants, pictures of animals and camping supplies.

This is another one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here. Enjoy.

Name: Fun with Photography

Prep Time: None

Materials: None for you, but at least one in every three students should have a cell phone with a camera

Primary Objective: Discuss technology

Other Benefits: This a nice lesson for practicing giving details on a given theme

Plan:

Pre-Speaking (20 minutes)

Write the word “Technology” on the board. Ask the class to give you some examples of different technologies. Write a few on the board.

Now, have the students each make a list of ten different technologies.

Next, have them share their lists with the students around them. Ask some of the quieter and lower level students to share some of the things on their lists. Write those things on the board too.

Now, ask the students to raise their hand if they have a camera on their cell phone. If everyone has a camera, then there is no need to create groups. However, if someone doesn’t have a camera, they’ll need to get into a group with someone who does. Create as many groups as are necessary (but no more).

Finally, explain to the students that they should leave the classroom and take pictures of five different technologies with their cameras. Tell them they have ten minutes to return to the classroom.

Speaking (30 minutes)

While the students are gone, write the following questions (and sample answers) on the board:

Is your technology big or small? It is big. / It is small. It is medium-sized.

Is your technology old or new? It’s new. It’s old.

When was your technology invented? It was invented about XX years ago.

Do most people use your technology? Yes, most people use this. / No, most people don’t use it.

When the students return, put them in pairs (or pair up the groups). Without showing the pictures, they should ask each other questions that will help them guess what the technology is. (Like twenty questions.) After the item is guessed, they should show their partner/other group the picture and do the next item.

(Before they start, model the activity with a couple students.)

For example…

A: Is your technology big or small?

B: It is small.

A: Is your technology old or new?

B: It is pretty new.

A: When was your technology invented?

B: It was invented about 30 years ago.

A: Is it a computer mouse?

B: Yes! Here, look at the picture.

After the students finish, have them switch to a new person/pair and repeat the process.

While the students work on this, write the following on the board:

Look at your pictures. With a partner discuss these questions:

Which technology is your favorite? Why?

Which technology is the most important? Why?

How often do you use each technology?

Some technologies, like typewriters, aren’t used very much anymore. Which of these technologies is the most likely to disappear in the future?

Who uses these technologies more: younger or older people?

After the students finish, have them switch to a new person/pair and discuss the questions again.

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Now, ask the questions above to a few students and ask them follow-up questions as well. The rest of the class should listen.

Finally, go around the class and ask each student to say one thing that they learned during this activity. It can be anything, but everyone should say something.

Extension

Have the students draw a pictures of a future technologies. Then, they should get in groups and ask each other the first set of questions above before showing their pictures to each other. For time, have them draw several pictures.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework/Another Extension: Have the students take more pictures of technology, but make it a scavenger hunt. For instance, tell them they have to take pictures of at least one technology that is: older than 100 years, less than 10 years old, bigger than a house, smaller than a cell phone, colored blue, etc.

Modification for Lower Levels: You’ll have to adjust the questions so that your students can handle them and probably do a lot more modeling than is suggested above, but the basics should be OK.

Modification for Higher Levels: Add discussion questions that force a bit more complex thought/complex grammar/complex vocab (e.g. How did people get by without this technology? How could this technology be improved? etc.) And/or have the students write some more technology discussion questions of their own.

Modification for Small Groups: For small groups, you can still do everything, but everyone will need a camera. Also, you should probably just discuss everything as a class. Finally, you’ll likely need to do the extension activity.

Modification for Private Lesson: It might be awkward to send a lone student out of the room, but you could take a walk with the student. Take the pictures together and discuss them on the way. You might also go straight to the homework idea above.

Modification for Different Themes: Instead of having the students take pictures of different technologies, have them take pictures on your theme. Amongst many others, food, transportation, and clothing would all work. You’ll have to adjust the questions for your theme.

This is another one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here. Enjoy.

Name: Talk Time (Nature)

Prep Time: None

Materials: None

Primary Objective: Build fluency on a given topic

Other Benefits: This is a good review activity or a good activity to do after you’ve worked on a theme for a little while.

Plan:

Pre-Speaking (20 minutes)

Begin by writing “Nature” on the top of the board. (The theme can be anything, but for this lesson, let’s say it’s nature.)

Now, write “tree, walk, and green” on the board. Explain that they are examples of a noun, verb, and adjective related to nature. Then ask the class for another noun, verb, and adjective related to nature. Write them on the board as well.

(Note: These words don’t have to be related to nature in a direct or even obvious way. The point is that the students are prepping themselves to use some words in the discussion they’ll have a little later. If “nature” makes them think of “hospital” because the last time they went for a hike, they had to go to the hospital, that’s fine.)

Next, the students should take out a piece of paper and write a noun, verb, and adjective of their own. Then, they should pass the paper to their left. That student should read what the last student wrote and add another noun, verb, and adjective. Then, they should pass it again. Repeat until each student has written on each sheet.

Finally, students should write three sentences using the nouns, verbs, and adjectives of whatever paper they end up with. Model it on the board. For example, if your paper looked like this:

NounsVerbsAdjectives

Tree Walk Green

Bird Swim Beautiful

Rock Sleep Boring

You might write: I slept under the beautiful tree. OR: The green bird couldn’t swim. OR: I think rocks are boring, but sometimes I walk near them.

(Note: Again, the sentences don’t need to be great. They’re just meant to get the students using the vocabulary in a creative, if structured, way.)

Have the students share their sentences with a partner.

Pre-Speaking #2 (5 minutes)

Ask the students to suggest sample discussion questions about nature. Write a couple examples of good discussion questions on the board:

Do you often visit a forest?

Do you like nature?

What is you favorite animal?

When students suggest good questions, write them on the board. If a student suggests a bad discussion question (e.g. Did you ever see a tiger?), change it to something better (e.g. What are some animals you have seen? OR Do you like tigers? Why/Why not?). You just want to avoid questions that students won’t be able to answer or will obviously answer quickly.

Speaking (20 minutes)

Now, tell the students to discuss the questions on the board for 20 minutes. Write the time that they need to talk (e.g. 10:20-10:40) on the board. Tell them that they must speak only English for 20 minutes. If they finish discussing the questions on the board before 20 minutes have passed, that’s OK. They can talk about whatever they want, but it should be in English.

While they speak, walk around the class and talk with different groups about the questions. Demonstrate how to ask follow-up questions and encourage them to do the same.

Post-Speaking (15 minutes)

Now, discuss the questions as a class. Ask each question to one or two students and ask follow-up questions as appropriate.

Extension

Ask the students to think of topics related to nature. For instance, they might suggest: Camping, Animals, Sports, etc.

Assign one of these topics to each student (several students can have the same topic, but not if they’re sitting next to each other). The students should write five discussion questions on their topic and ask their partner the questions.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Find and email the teacher ten websites that have something to do with nature. (You can collect them all and send out a comprehensive list to the class.)

Modification for Lower Levels: If the level is so low that they’ll have trouble thinking of enough nouns, verbs, and adjectives related to the them; instead write down several yourself and play a game of hangman with them.

Then, have them just write down twenty nouns, verbs, and adjectives. In groups, they should circle the words that are related to nature and add to the lists if possible.

When you write the questions on the board, make sure to write sample answers next to them.

Only write five sample questions and five sample answers at a time. Instead of having them talk for 20 minutes, have them talk for five minutes. Review the questions as a class. Then write another five questions and another five sample answers on the board. Repeat for time.

Modification for Higher Levels: This should work fine for higher levels as is. Just make sure they’re using appropriately difficult vocabulary and grammar. If they’re not, cross the words out/don’t accept the question. Tell them they can do better.

Modification for Small Groups: It should be OK, but students will need to write on the same sheet of paper several times.

Modification for Private Lesson: It should be OK, but the student will have to write many vocab words and questions alone and you’ll have to keep the conversation going with good follow-up questions. Also, you’ll probably have to do the extension for time.

This is another one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here. Enjoy.

Name: Deck of Cards

Prep Time: None

Materials: A deck of cards

Primary Objective: Review previous themes

Other Benefits: This is a nice combination kinesthetic/visual activity.

***

Plan:

Pre-Speaking #1 (10 minutes)

On the board, write four themes that you’ve already discussed in class (For example: Getting to Know You, Travel, The Home, and Clothing).

Write a sample discussion question next to each theme (For example: What’s your favorite subject? Do you like to travel? Do you have a messy room, and Do you have a favorite shirt? Why do you like it?)

Go around the class and ask each question to a couple of students.

Now ask the students to suggest another discussion question for each topic. Write them on the board and ask each question to a couple students.

In the end, your board should look something like this:

Theme 1: Question 1 (from teacher), Question 2 (from student)

Theme 2: Question 1 (from teacher), Question 2 (from student)

Theme 3: Question 1 (from teacher), Question 2 (from student)

Theme 4: Question 1 (from teacher), Question 2 (from student)

Pre-Speaking #2 (10 minutes)

Next, write a suit next to each theme (e.g. a Heart next to Getting to Know You, a Diamond next to Travel, a Club next to The Home, and a Spade next to Clothing)

Now give each student two cards. They should write a discussion questions that match their suits. (e.g. if they have a Diamond and a Club, they’d write questions about Travel and The Home)

For students that finish quickly, give them more cards. Keep passing out extra cards until everyone has written at least two questions and time has passed.

Speaking (30 minutes)

Collect all of the cards from the students.

Have the students stand up and ask their questions to another student.

After they’ve asked and answered most of their questions, yell “find another partner!” They should find a new person and ask that person their questions.

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Ask the class for questions from each suit. Then ask random students the questions again as a review.

Extension

Give the students two cards again. They should now find someone else with a question on that suit’s theme and write it down. Basically, they’re just copying questions from other students, but in a complicated way.

Repeat the Speaking portion, but with their new questions.

Extension #2

Have a “follow-up” questions contest.

Bring two students to the front of the class. One student should ask one of their questions. The other student should answer.

Now, the first student should ask as many follow-up questions as possible. When they run out of follow-up questions, note how many they asked and have them sit down. Bring another two students to the front and repeat the process. See which student in the class can ask the most follow-up questions.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Have the students write 13 discussion questions on each topic. They should label the questions with suits and numbers. Their best question should be their “ace” question. A “two” question can be silly or stupid.

Modification for Lower Levels: It should be OK, but you may need to put the structure for discussion questions on the board in a more specific manner. So, instead of just putting examples on the board, you could also put up something like “Do you like _____?” “Yes, I like _______.” or “No, I don’t like _________.”

Modification for Small Groups: Pass out five or six cards at the beginning. During the Speaking portion, call out a suit and discuss all of that suit’s questions as a group. Then do the next suit. You can still ask the questions again at the end. It’s good repetition.

Modification for Private Lesson: Alternate pulling cards from the deck and asking your student and having them ask you questions. If you pull a face card, you also have to ask three follow-up questions.

Modification for Different Themes: Assign different themes to the different suits.

This is another one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here.

Name: Origami Fortune Tellers

Prep Time: 5 minutes (or however long it takes you to learn how to make origami fortune tellers. You can learn how from this link.)

Materials: White Paper

Primary Objective: Discuss countries around the world

Other Benefits: Great for kinesthetic learners

Plan:

Pre-Speaking (20 minutes)

Have the students gather around and watch you create a fortune teller.

They should then return to their seats. Pass out white computer paper and have the students rip it so that they have squares instead of rectangles.

Now they should follow along as you create another in front of the class.

On the eight triangles inside the fortune teller, the students should write the names of eight countries that they want to visit.

Now, put the Fortune Tellers aside for a few minutes.

On the board, write the following questions:

What would you do in __________?

How would you travel to _________?

What do you think people are like in __________?

Could you live in _________? Why/why not?

Then write sample answers next to each question

Now, the students should write the questions underneath the triangles (with the country names) in their fortune tellers.

Finally, write the following steps on the board and model them with a couple of the students.

A: Say a number between 1 and 10

B: Open and close your fortune teller that many times. Say the four countries.

A: Choose a country

B: Open the paper and read the question (use the country your partner chose).

Speaking (15 minutes)

Have the students ask and answer questions. Have them change partners for time.

Pre-Speaking #2 (10 minutes)

Tell the students that they should now make a second fortune teller. On the eight inside triangles, they should now write eight cities from around the world. Beneath the flaps, they should write four of their own questions.

Speaking #2 (10 minutes)

Again, they should ask and answer questions. Have them change partners for time.

Post-Speaking (5 minutes)

Take a fortune teller from a student. Do the activity with the class acting as “A” and you acting as “B”

Extension

Have the class exchange fortune tellers with a partner and ask new questions. You could also have them decorate their fortune tellers with pictures that represent each country/city.

Notes:

Ideas for Homework: Have the students should find another origami creation on YouTube and make it for homework.

Modification for Lower Levels: Adapt the questions to make them easier and make sure to put sample answers on the board. For example:

Do you want to go to ______? (Yes, I do/No, I don’t want to go to _____.)

Where is ______? (It’s in Asia, Europe, etc.)

Is it hot or cold in ________? (It’s hot/cold in _______.)

What language do people speak in _______? (They speak ____ in ___.)

Modification for Higher Levels: From the start, have the students write questions instead of countries. Underneath, they should write follow-up questions.

Modification for Small Groups: Have each student create two from the start. And have them create them by continent. Then, make the discussion for the whole group rather than in pairs.

Modification for Private Lesson: Bring two created fortune tellers to class. Start by doing the activity with your fortune tellers. Then, have the student create their own fortune tellers.

Modification for Different Themes: This is pretty easily adapted. Choose the things you want the students to talk about (e.g. modes of transportation, sports, clothing, etc.) and then create discussion questions about those things instead of the countries.

This is the first one-hour conversation activity. For an introduction to the series, click here. Enjoy.

Name: Get to Know You and You and You and You and You and You too!

Prep Time: None.

Materials: None.

Primary Objective: After the lesson, students will be comfortable answering and asking common questions used when meeting a new person.

Other Benefits: This is an excellent lesson for a teacher with a new group of students as it lets you listen to your students talk for a while. You can get a real sense of the level of your class on the first day. For the students, they really do get to know many of their classmates without much effort.

Plan:

Pre-Speaking (15 minutes)

On the board, write “Get To Know You Questions”. Ask the students: “Can anyone tell me what a “Get To Know You Question” is?

If someone can, great. If not, that’s OK too. Either way, explain it to them. Write two example questions on the left hand side of the board (e.g. What’s your name? Where do you live?)

Say the questions out loud and have the students repeat them back.

Now ask the students for possible answers to the questions. Write them next to the questions. (e.g. My name is Paul. I live in Paris.)

Ask some students the questions and have them answer back to you.

Now, have the students suggest some more questions. Write a total of 5-7 questions on the board. If you can’t get the students to suggest any, you can write: What do you do in your free time? Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? Do you like sports? What is your favorite color?. After each new question, have the students repeat it back as a class.

Now, write possible answers next to all the questions. Leave blank the information that the students should provide. (Or, you could write an answer in, but put it in a different color or underline it.) Again, have the students provide them if possible.

In the end, your board should look something like this:

Get To Know You QuestionsAnswers

What’s your name? My name is ________.

Where do you live? I live in _________.

How old are you? I am ____ years old.

What do you do in your free time? I like to _____ in my free time.

etc. etc.

Speaking (35 minutes)

Have the students stand in two parallel lines so that each student is facing another student. If you have an odd number of students put one student at the end staring down the middle of the lines.

(Sometimes this is hard to explain, so just say “Stand up!” and start moving them with your hands until they’re in lines.)

Explain to the students that they should ask the person across from them the questions on the board. Their partner should answer.

If there are an odd number of students, there will be one group of three. It’s OK. Don’t join the lines. Use the time to help struggling students and to observe their levels.

Let them speak for about 3 minutes.

Now, yell “Switch!” Half the students should stay where they are. The other half should move down one spot (like speed dating).

The students should ask the questions again.

Repeat until there are 10 minutes left in the hour.

Don’t stop it if it becomes easy for the students. That’s when it’s really sinking in.

If it’s too easy from the start, then you can add more questions/more complicated questions to the board (e.g. Where would you like to go on vacation? Why? What’s your favorite month? Why? Can you tell me about your parents? What are they like? Are you similar to them?)

Post-Speaking (10 minutes)

Go around the class and ask “Who is this?” What can you tell me about him/her?

Extension

If you finish early, tell the class that they should ask you some of the questions on the board. Talk about yourself for as long as necessary.

Notes: If you have less than ten students, you’ll have to set it up so that each student ends up talking to everyone else. You can do this by saying “Find someone new!” instead of “Switch!”

Ideas for Homework: (1) Have students write dialogues between people who’ve just met. (2) Listen to “You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice” by The Lovin’ Spoonful. (3) Find five other students and ask them these questions in English. Report back to the class next time.

Modification for Lower Levels: For lower levels, you may need to provide questions and answers, but they can still do it. Go more slowly. Have the students repeat back each question and answer five times. Finally, make sure they can read the board while they’re in the lines.

Modification for Higher Levels: As noted above, you’ll need to make the questions harder from the start. Try to think of the most realistic questions you can. You already have two columns on the board for “Questions” and “Answers”. Add a third column for “Follow-up Questions” and a fourth for “Follow-up Answers”

Modification for Small Groups: This lesson needs at least five people. You can still use the beginning and end bits, but the middle will just have to be everyone talking to each other. Ask lots of follow-up questions yourself. Try to get the students talking as much as possible, but you’d better have something in reserve.

Modification for Private Lesson: Again, you can use the beginning and end bits, but that’s about it.

Modification for Different Themes: At the beginning, instead of asking students for Get To Know You questions, ask them for questions (or give them questions) on your chosen theme.

A big problem with ESL sites that provide lesson plans is that they don’t really provide lesson plans. They provide things that might inspire a lesson plan. Or they provide things that you can use in your lesson plan. We hope to be different.

So, here’s the start of a series of actual lesson plans that pay attention to things like repeating concepts to pound them into the students, multiple learning styles, and moving students from recognizing a new concept to using it themselves.

All the plans are written with a class of 6-20 intermediate level speakers in mind—just shooting for the middle with the hope of being helpful to the greatest number of people.

It’s assumed that you have a white board and markers and that your students have paper and pens/pencils. All other necessary materials are indicated.

Prep time is indicated at the beginning, but it’ll be small. You should be able to print most of these off and walk into the classroom

Sometimes lessons go much faster than planned, so there’s an “Extension” at the end of each hour. It may not be the strongest bit of the lesson plan, but will hammer the concepts home and give you something to do when the supposedly one-hour conversation lesson takes 30 minutes.

The themes are just random popular themes. Most of the lessons would work just fine with a different theme, so there are also notes on how to adapt it to a theme of your choosing.

The only caveat is that because versatility and low prep time are high priorities for these plans, there had to be some sacrifice. That sacrifice is that they don’t introduce too much new material. Stuff the students already know is leaned on.

So, while you should be able to use these plans as they are, there’s no reason you can’t use them to inspire better plans or incorporate them into your other plans.

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